Minnesota Vikings: Grading every 2018 NFL Draft pick

Grade: C

Boy, what a reach. As if there weren’t already some concerning moves from Spielman and Co. earlier in the draft, they followed it up by using their pick at the beginning of Day 3 on a player who likely would have been available for the Vikings later in the draft.

Jalyn Holmes spent most of his time at Ohio State as a reserve. It wasn’t until his senior season that he earned a prominent role, and even then it was primarily as a pass-rushing specialist. While I like his inside-outside versatility, I believe the Vikings could have done much better with this pick than a low-ceiling defensive end/defensive tackle tweener.

Holmes has size (6-5, 280 pounds) and power going for him. Still, even if he does slide into the pass-rushing specialist role, I don’t think he’ll excel there either. His best sack production in a single season at Ohio State? A whopping two quarterback takedowns.

Some will say that this pick is all about potential. However, I don’t believe Holmes really offers that much of it. Even in a couple of years, I don’t see the former Buckeye as anything more than a rotational defensive end who can occasionally bump inside of passing downs. He would have been better off as a 3-4 defensive end.